Safety Fish Way

ABSTRACT

A safe fish guide path structure includes a horizontal tube having an intake and exhaust valve for controlling levels of air having lower viscosity than water. The horizontal tube is equipped with a transparent window at both sides about the intake and exhaust valve. The horizontal tube is installed at a weir or a bank. An inclined tube extends horizontally from both sides of the horizontal tube. An extended tube extends horizontally from an end portion of the inclined tube. An inlet tube extends from an end portion of the extended tube toward an upper side, while communicating with the extended tube, with water flowing through the inlet tube. A cover has an insertion groove at one side into which the extended tube is inserted, and a cut-away groove at the other side for water to flow through the cutaway groove.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a safety fishway, and in particular toa safe fish guide path structure which enables a safe movement of a fishby stopping the flow of water in a fish path when water flows a highspeed in the event of flood, and provides a safe shelter as the water inthe path increases during the dry season in which the bottom of a riveris exposed, and the present invention rakes it possible to enhance awater quality as the water at the bottom of the river is continuouslyexchanged with new water and is well applied to a small dimension riveras compared with a conventional intermittent discharge of water stoppingthe flow of water until the water level reaches a certain level.

BACKGROUND ART

A weir or a bank is generally installed at a river or a stream in orderto efficiently use stored water for an agricultural purpose or anindustrial purpose.

The conventional weir or bank used to stop various fishes living anupstream or downstream of a river from moving between the upstream andthe downstream while interrupting the communications of deep water atthe bottom of the river or the stream, thus increasing the contaminationof the deep water. In the event of the dry season, the ecosystem ofaquatic animals and plants is destroyed.

In order to overcome the above problems, various kinds of fish guidepath structures are installed at a weir or a bank for allowing fishes tomove to other places.

The above-described conventional fish guide path structures still haveproblems. The fishes with weak swimming abilities cannot be easily moveto another place, and the deep water residing at a deep portion of ariver or a stream does not help improve the water quality, and thestructure is made too complicated, which results in various problems.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a safefish guide path structure which is basically designed to overcome theproblems encountered in the conventional art, and makes it possible toenable a safe and stable movement of fishes with weak swimming abilitieswhile significantly improving the water quality in the river car thestream.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a safe fish guide pathstructure which comprises:

a horizontal tube which has an intake and exhaust valve for the multiplepurposes performing an exhaust function for a water level decrease andincrease of the air in the tube for the sake of a water level control ofthe horizontal tube serving to determine the amount of water to beexhausted and an interruption function for maintaining a constant waterlevel, with the horizontal tube being equipped with a light transparentwindow at both sides about the intake and exhaust valve, with thehorizontal tube generally being installed at a weir or a bank; aninclined tube which is extended from both sides of the horizontal tubein a horizontal direction while communicating with the horizontal tube;an extended tube which is extended from an end portion of the inclinedtube in a horizontal direction while communicating with the inclinedtube; an inlet tube which is extended from an end portion of theextended tube toward an upper side, while communicating with theextended tube, with the water of the river or the stream flowing throughthe inlet tube; and a cover which has an insertion groove at one sideinto which the extended tube is inserted, and a cut-away groove at theother side for the water of the aver or the stream to flow through thecutaway groove.

Here, the horizontal tube has a through hole at its bottom surface, anda chamber is formed at a lower side of the through hole for fishes toswim.

In addition, a transparency window is provided at a front surface of thehorizontal tube and a front surface of the chamber, respectively, forchecking out the level of the water stored in the horizontal tube andthe chamber.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

The safe fish guide path structure according to the present inventionhas advantages in that fishes can rove to another places in sage andprovides fishes with a safe shelter while gathering lots of fishes insuch a way to stop the flow of the water in the interior of the fishguide path at the time of flood, eddy current or rapid stream.

In addition, even when the fish guide path inlets are fully exposed tothe air during the dry season or due to the dried river or stream, sincethe water does not flow outside the fish guide path, a safe shelter canbe provided to the fishes.

In the event that the bottom surface of the inlet tube is constructed tocome into contact with the bottom of the river or the stream at usualtime, since the deep water of the river or the stream is continuouslydischarged, the water quality of the water of the river or the streamcan be significantly improved.

It is possible to easily control the level of the water of thehorizontal tube which serves to the control of the flow amount of waterdepending on the increase and decrease of the volume of light airinstead of using the water having a relatively higher viscosity bycontrolling the intake and exhaust valve.

Since a light transparency window is installed at an upper surface ofthe horizontal tube, sunshine or moonshine can reach the inner side ofthe safe fish guide path, the movements of fishes can be efficientlyconducted by helping the fishes to easily find ways.

A light transparency window is installed at the front surfaces of thehorizontal tube and the chamber, respectively, it is possible to easilycheck out the level of the water in the interior of the safe fish guidepath, and the safe swimming of the fishes can be obtained in such a wayto control the level of water by means of the intake and exhaust valve

In addition, the safe fish guide path structure of the present inventionworks in perfect even when a water gate is not additionally installed atthe weir or the bank, thus saving the water gate installation cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become better understood with reference tothe accompanying drawings which are given only by way of illustrationand thus are not limitative of the present invention, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a safe fish guide pathstructure according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view illustrating a construction when a safefish guide path structure is installed according to an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating a construction when a safefish guide path structure is installed according to another embodimentof the present invention.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a safe fish guide pathstructure according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a crosssectional view illustrating a construction when a safe fish guide pathstructure is installed according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, and FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view illustrating aconstruction when a safe fish guide path structure is installedaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

The safe fish guide path structure according to the present inventioncomprises a horizontal tube 10 installed at an upper side of a weir or aband D, an inclined tube 20 communicating with the horizontal tube 10,an extended tube 30 communicating with the inclined tube 20, an inlettube 40 communicating with the extended tube 30, and a cover 50installed at an upper side of the inlet tube 40.

The horizontal tube 10 is installed at an upper side oaf a weir or abank generally installed at a river or a stream, and is formed in a tubeshape having a space in its inner side which becomes a water flow path.

The horizontal tube 10 has an intake and exhaust valve 11 allowing theamount of the air in the inner space to be introduced or discharged,thus controlling the level of water in the interior.

In more details, the total volume of water and air which have differentnatures maintains constant, and the inlet tube in the horizontal stateis always under the atmospheric pressure. The intake and exhaust valve11 provided for a relative water level adjusting purpose with the aid ofthe volume increase and decrease of the air which is lighter than othermaterials is connected with an air pump (not shown). When the air isremoved from the interior of the horizontal tube 10 as the air pump getsstarted, the water is pumped from the river or the stream through theinlet tube 40, the extended tube 30 and the inclined tube 20 with theaid of the atmospheric pressure, thus filling the water into theinterior of the safe fish guide path structure. On the contrary, when itis needed to remove the water from the interior of the safe fish guidestructure, the water can be fast discharged from the interior of thesafe fish guide path structure as the intake and exhaust valve isopened.

A light transparency window 12 is installed at the upper surface of thehorizontal tube 10, in more detail, at both sides about the intake andexhaust valve 11.

It is preferred that the light transparency window 12 is made from atransparent material so that light can penetrate into the interior ofthe safe fish guide path structure, thus helping the fishes to swim insafe. The light transparency window 12 might be manufactured in anintegrated form at the horizontal tube 10. As shown in FIG. 3, it mightbe hinged at the upper surface of the horizontal tube 10 for easieropening and closing operations. In the event that the light transparencywindow 12 is installed in an open and close form, the maintenance orcleaning work of the interior of the safe fish guide path structurebecomes easier.

The horizontal tube 10 is formed in such a way to form a through hole 13at the bottom surface, and a chamber 14 is formed at a lower side of thethrough hole 13.

The chamber 14 is a kind of the pool which receives the water raised upto the horizontal tube 10 as water is inputted into the interior of thesafe fish guide path structure and stores the water. The chamber 14 isbasically directed to helping provide the fishes with a shelter or aswimming place by filling water for the fishes to move even at the timeflow speed is almost zero. As shown in FIG. 3, in the event that a drainhole 14 a with a hinged stopper 14 b is provided at the bottom surfaceof the chamber 14, the water can be discharged in safe from the chamber14, thus easily cleaning the interior of the chamber 14.

Meanwhile the see through window 15 is installed a front surface of thehorizontal tube 10 and at a front surface of the chamber 14,respectively. The see through window 15 is preferably made from atransparent material so that the inner situations of the safe fish guidepath structure can be seen from the outside. The water level of theinterior of the safe fish guide path structure can be checked outthrough the see through window 15 or a water level detection rod mightbe installed at a certain portion where is needed when determining theinlets of the water into the interior of the safe fish guide pathstructure. The intake and exhaust pump can be designed or programmed toget automatically started at a set water level by means of a selectorswitch formed of an electric circuit.

The inclined tube 20 is extended from both ends of the horizontal tube10 toward a lower side along an outer side surface of the weir or thebank, while communicating with the horizontal tube 10. The upper side ofthe inclined tube 20 is connected with the horizontal tube 10, and itslower side is positioned under the water surface of the river or thestream.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the event that there is provided a step 21 with acertain width in the interior of the inclined tube 20, since a workercan move in a lower or upper direction of the inclined tube 20, thecleaning work or maintenance can be easily performed in the interior ofthe inclined tube 20.

The extended tube 30 is extended in a horizontal direction from the endportion of the inclined tube 20, while communicating with the inclinedtube 20. So, the water inputted into the interior of the safe fish guidepath structure through the inlet tube 40 can be inputted into thechamber 14 through the inclined tube 20 and the horizontal tube 10.

The inlet tube 40 is extended from the end portion of the extended tube30 toward the upper side, while communicating with the extended tube 30.The inlet tube 40 is configured with its lower end portion beingconnected with the extended tube 30, with its upper end portion beingconfigured to receive the water from the river or the stream.

The cover 50 is installed at the upper side of the inlet tube 40, withthe width of the cover 50 being larger than the width of the inlet tube40, and an insertion groove 51 is formed at one side surface, and thecut-away groove 52 is formed at the other side surface.

The insertion groove 51 is formed at a surface of the inlet tube 40 inthe direction of the inclined tube 50, with an extended tube 30 beinginserted into the insertion groove 51.

The cut-away groove 52 is formed at a surface formed at an angle of 90°with respect to the surface where the cut-away groove 52 is formed, andeven when the cover 50 is installed at an upper side of the inlet tube40, the water of the river or the stream can be inputted into the inlettube 40 through the cut-away groove 52.

As the present invention may be embodied in several forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, itshould also be understood that the above-described examples are notlimited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unlessotherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within itsspirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore allchanges and modifications that fall within the meets and bounds of theclaims, or equivalences of such meets and bounds are therefore intendedto be embraced by the appended claims.

<Descriptions of reference characters> 10: horizontal tube 11: intakeand exhaust valve 12: light transparency window 13: through hole 14:chamber 14a: drain hole 14b: stopper 15: see through window 20: inclinedtube 21: steps 30: extended tube 40: inlet tube 50: cover 51: insertiongroove 52: cut-away groove D: weir or bank

1. A safe fish guide path structure, comprising: a horizontal tube (10)which is formed of an intake and exhaust valve controlling the waterlevel in the interior depending on the increase and decrease of occupiedair in the tube, with the horizontal tube generally being installed at aweir or a bank D; an inclined tube (20) which is extended from both endportions of the horizontal tube 10) to the lower side along an outerside surface of the weir or the bank (D), while communicating with thehorizontal tube (10); an extension tube (30) which is horizontallyextended from the end portion of the inclined tube (20), whilecommunicating with the inclined tube (20); and an inlet tube (40) whichis upwardly extended from the end portion of the extended tube (30) fora communication with the extended tube (30), thus allowing the water ofthe river or the stream to come in or go out, with a light transparencywindow (12) is provided on the upper surface of the horizontal tube (10)thus passing sunlight through.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The structure of claim1, wherein said horizontal tube (10) has a through hole (13) at itslower surface, and a chamber (14) is formed at a lower side of thethrough hole (13), so fish can swim.
 4. The structure of claim 3,wherein a see through window (11) is installed at a front side of thehorizontal tube (10) and at a front side of the chamber (14),respectively, thus checking out the levels of the water in thehorizontal tube (10) and the chamber (14).
 5. The structure of claim 1,wherein a cover (50) is installed at an upper side of the inlet tube(40), and the cover (50) has an insertion groove (51) at its one sidefor the extended tube (30) to be inserted into the same, and has acut-away groove (52) at its other side, so the water of the river or thestream flows through the inlet tube (40).